The Cainite Order

CHAPTER 12

ДА ВЕРУЈУ ДА ЈЕ ЛАКШЕ НЕГО ДА СЕ ИСТРАЖИ

CHAPTER 12

"To believe is easier than to investigate."

After almost dying during his first and only teleportation he was actually grateful for the long boring flight back to Ohio. The militaristic sleep schedule he had adapted to gave him plenty of time to review the last year of his life. It had been one whirlwind after another since he was first attacked. The ten-hour flight was his first real chance to relax and reflect on everything that had happened to him. The last few months had been something straight out of science fiction.

Learning about the true nature of the world, how to fight all manner of strange creatures. His favorite experience was probably that magik is real and that he was more than capable of using it. He only knew a few spells so far but that was enough for now. The only thing he couldn't stop thinking about was the one regret from the last year. Not getting closer to Ash when he had the chance. He had finally realized that she had been hitting on him since physical training. On some level he knew what was going on, but his focus had been on survival. Which meant that he needed to learn as much as possible about the world he was now a part of, neglecting the fact that trusted allies are also very helpful. Now he only hoped their paths would cross again sometime soon.

The plane began its final approach. He tried to push her out of his mind and focus on anything else. The plane touched down gently and taxied to their gate. As the plane came to a stop he began putting his things away and getting ready to de-board the plane. Beathen was happy to be on the ground and in some kind of control. Flying First Class was a great experience, but all the extra attention couldn't alleviate the feeling of helplessness he had any time he flew. First class was allowed to disembark; he grabbed his bag and made his way up the breezeway. Walking from the plane to the baggage area, he again was haunted by thoughts of what he should have done with Ash.

"Jaysus boy haven't cha eaten since ya left?" the familiar voice caught him off guard as he was lost in thought.

"Ruaraidh, what are you doing here?!" Beathen asked, genuinely surprised.

"It's standard for a partner to pick up their new protégé. Besides it looks like someone's going ta need to force feed ya an carry your gear. Ya look like a toothpick boy." Ruaraidh said with a laugh.

"Now I remember why I wanted to stay abroad. The people were so much nicer and supportive." Beathen said with a smirk.

"Welcome back to the States. Home of the self-entitled prick" said Ruaraidh, patting Beathen on the back. They made their way down to the baggage area of the Akron-Canton Airport to wait for his duffel bag. Beathen told him about all he had gone through from physical training to his final trial. They both shared memories of the hell they had gone through in that first few weeks of training. His bag showed up sometime between the climbing story and Ruaraidh's rendition of a marching cadence. They grabbed his bag and made their way to the car.

"Well at least ya kept your sense of humor. Too many people go through training and lose part of themselves. Good ta see you're still a bit of a prick." Ruaraidh said as they got in the car.

"So, anything important happen while I was gone?" asked Beathen.

"Not much, few strange reports but nothing out of the normal for the area. One thing you'll quickly learn about Ohio is that it's a little like the land-locked version of the Bermuda Triangle. Lots of strange things happen that even we can't explain. It's mainly because of all the Ley Lines, but I think this area is just a magnet for the strange." he said, pulling out into traffic. "I will admit that it's more than a little annoying. Trying to track possible breaches or someone who tries to use true magik is more difficult than most other places. The normal part of Ohio can be boring. The supernatural domain is anything but. Thankfully the Order has been here long enough to wade through some of the confusion."